Glad to hear that the city of Mtn View is "on it". By the time they get to doing anything, the moths will have already flown away.

The caterpillars are also very heavy in population in the oak trees along the Stevens Creek Trail. I found them dropping in Cuesta Park, also
from the Oak Trees.
How long will this continue? Having worms drop from silk strands as I am
trying to enjoy nature rather defeats the purpose!!

Since the mayor invites in homeless in cars, curious if he is associated to this as well?

Dear "Did the mayor invite them?" (resident of Bailey Park):

The caterpillars were here long before the current mayor and elected city officials. By thousands of years.

Just thought you might like to know.

Have a wonderful evening everyone!

so what are you using to defend your home against this plague of caterpillar?

It's very sad and selfish to complain about people who don't have a nice warm home with space to walk around, use the rest room and sleep in a warm safe place like you must do. Shame on you! You should be greatful it is not you out there sleeping in car with people like complaining while you are having a hard life already. Silence is golden.

We have kids afraid to go to school at Mistral because of the caterpillars--they are causing rashes and are EVERYWHERE. PLEASE MVWSD--Please TRY HARDER to prevent them at the school in the Fall and kill them in the Spring so our children are not miserable at school. This is affecting their desire to attend school!!!

@Mistral Family

This sounds like a First World Problem if this is what kids in this town have to face at their schools

This is an uncommon event caused by unchangeable natural factors. They could do nothing, and it would seem like they did something next spring.
The kids will just have to put their big boy/girl pants on and wait for the butterflies.

Oh, or we could flood air with clouds of toxic insecticide sprayed into the trees and all over the ground. That'd work as well.

How, exactly, is your child being covered in an itchy rash a "first world problem?" The rashes can, and have for some kids, gotten so bad that they get infected. It has nothing to do with being entitled, or "first world." They're kids, and they're itching and in pain and can't do anything about it. Seems fairly universal to me.

I think the Voice would find some very interesting stories in talking to parents whose kids have gotten these rashes. I know Mistral has been fairly proactive after last year's debacle, when the children were eating under the oak tree and caterpillars were literally dropping into their food. This year is actually better on campus than most other parks in town...and there are still thousands of caterpillars everywhere, and kids are still afraid to walk outside or go to school.

The city of MV needs to think proactively for next year and do more to treat for them. And they haven't been leaving any "clouds of toxic insecticide;" they've been using pesticides that are natural to be as gentle as possible. The power-washing works in the short-term. With as much brain power as we have around here, surely someone can come up with a better solution?

I have a bush in my yard that gets caterpillars every year, in two waves.
They just about eat the thing down to the wood.
The BT Thuricide (BT) Conc. A liquid formulation of bacteria kills them dead quickly if I employ it soon enough.
I wish Home Depot would not sell plants that do not do naturally well in this area. But the Thuricide is not really toxic and it does not kill other beneficial insects. A bottle costs a lot, but in industrial amounts maybe it is reasonable.

Last week in Cuesta Park I saw 2 instances where nests had been blasted out and the baby birds left on the ground. Are the city workers being told that this is peak hatching season for birds and the nests are full of them?

In willow glen. Broomhill park totally infested. Definitely causing skin rashes to adults and chest congestion

They are much less numerous and numbers are declining fast around us. As a nurse at PAMF I've not seen these reactions on patients that some claim to be "Definitely" caused by caterpillars. I think the panic is beginning to subside. How did we ever survive?